Stuff it All !

Before I start this post who turned the sun off ?? It's suddenly turned f-f-freezing here in the UK and my already summer-sun starved body can't cope with the extra cold ; but there's been a family decree (well there is a "credit crunch" and thriftiness is now officially fashionable ) no heating .... YET !! I bought an extra warm blanket/throw thingy from Dunelm's last weekend and so far all of us have snuggled up under it at various points of the day ...... occasionally every person ( and dog(s) ) who happen to be on the sofa at the same time ! I can tell you why it's so brilliantly warm too - it's called a Teddy Bear Throw - yes, what else can give you that radiating glow in dreary , shivery days but a teddy bear ? It's like a big warm bruin cuddle . If it was made in to a bear he'd be called "Ready Brek" ! I think I'll have to buy at least one more before territorial fights break out ....

So to the title above - or more particularly the subject of stuffing . I'm going to have to start thinking about stuffing in depth soon , because I'm on my last bag !!! Ordinarily it wouldn't be a problem , I'm sure bear-makers take the fact of their last bag of stuffing with ease .... but ... Since I started making miniature bears (6 years) I've used the same hollow fibre filling . I got it from a chain of drapers and haberdashers ; Gordon Thoday in Cambridge , which I used to regularly haunt in my work lunchtimes . This was between 1982 and 1987 , when I was making quite a few "Care Bears" from a McCalls pattern , and inventing my own little creatures as well as stuff like Miss Piggy purses and Gordon the Gopher pals for my nieces ! I even had a pattern for an ambitious large bear , made from a (then) expensive dark brown plush , who was to have individual suede toes ! Ahem , I have to admit he's still in the loft stash - sad , alone ... and NOT even stuffed ... * shame * So I'm afraid the only stuffing I've ever used is totally vintage , and "the end is nigh" ! I have to source something exactly the same - very low loft , silky and compactible , or I'll never be happy with the results . Sadly Thodays ceased to exist at least 18 years ago . Ho Hum .

I suppose eventually the same thing will happen with my stack of coloured felt squares from circa 1979 and onward . Some pieces still have their original super advanced-technology magnetic strip labels , which the staff in Robert Sayle (a John Lewis branch) had to read with a special pen to bring the price up on the till ! Those were the days huh ? A haberdashers round every corner , and "real" pieces of felt that were actually ..... felty .

Above is a sneaky little peak of my "Bobo's Booth" bear , which will be appearing in the
Teddy Bears and Critters Australasia International Valentine's Day show 2009 . All monies from the Bobo bears will be forwarded to the bear charity Free the Bears Fund Inc , who rescue Cambodian Sun Bears .

T.T.F.N Ruth x